1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to vehicle exhaust monitoring and mitigation in a closable structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicle systems are known to include remote vehicle start devices which allow an operator of a vehicle to start the vehicle from a remote location. Remote starting of the engine allows the engine to warm up so that forced air output from the climate control system at a desired temperature can pre-heat or pre-cool the vehicle cabin prior to the user entering the vehicle.
An issue with using a remote start system is during periods when the vehicle is parked in a closable structure such as a garage without proper ventilation. Exhaust fumes (e.g., carbon monoxide) generated by the vehicle exhaust system may increase to unsafe levels without proper ventilation. Such instances may occur when a person remotely starts the vehicle and waits a period of time before entering garage or if the remote start is unintentionally activated. In such situations, the garage or attached building as well as the interior of the vehicle may be filled with hazardous exhaust fumes.
Such unsafe conditions have been safeguarded by safety systems that are responsive to unsafe exhaust gas concentration levels within a garage by either turning off the engine of the vehicle and/or activating some type of ventilation system such as an exhaust fan or opening the garage doors. Such systems have utilized an exhaust monitoring device mounted inside the garage and may react to the unsafe condition by ventilating the garage through the use of a ventilation unit. However, this does not necessarily terminate the source of the hazardous exhaust gas such as the engine. Furthermore, such systems continuously monitor the exhaust levels in the garage continuously even when no vehicle is present within the garage. This is a constant waste of power to monitor the exhaust levels when the vehicle is not running or no vehicle is in the garage.
Other systems are known to have the exhaust monitoring device mounted on the vehicle so that when hazardous exhaust gas levels are detected, the engine may be shut off. However, these systems can only stop the exhaust system from emitting more gas and cannot mitigate the exhaust gas that is already emitted from the vehicle. For a person having multiple vehicles parked within a same garage structure, multiple monitoring devices must be used which can be costly. In addition, for people who lease or purchase vehicles on an annual basis, either a new monitoring device must be purchased and installed each time a vehicle is acquired or the monitoring device must be removed from each existing vehicle and installed on the new vehicle which may be time consuming if performed by the owner or costly if the removed by a third person such as a mechanic.